Can a Mercedes-Benz E350 be a canoe car?

[Glenn MacGrady]

Particularly with a panoramic moon roof.

Why or why not?

Yes or no?

Sane or stupid?

Is a vehicle, a vehicle, a vehicle . . . which by any other name would perform as sweet?

I need definitive, concrete, unambiguous and conclusive answers . . . fast!

 

[Alan Gage]

Does Thule or Yakima offer a rack kit for this car? If not then I'd say no, it can't be a canoe car.

Alan

 

[Odyssey]

Not without a trailer.

 

[Waterdog]

You can absolutely put a rack and thus a canoe on the E class Mercedez. I see kids driving Mercedez and Porsches with racks and toys on top all the time. But unless you regularly put in and take out from a parking lot it will cost some serious money to keep it on the road. I don't like to judge, but I'll put the idea in the stupid class. It will not perform canoe car tasks to the level of Subaru's and Tacoma's (or similar paddler icons). I saw a late model corvette with an 18' bell composite somewhere. I think people who shuttle with those types of cars are going to have to put their money where their mouth is on the water before being taken too seriously. I say keep your van

Cheers,
Barry

 

[FartherWest]

Well, with the little foamy block things I think you could make it work, should you make it work, maybe not. Like a few others have noted I think you need to actually see if a rack system will work...however,

I came across this the the day on Craigslist in Portland....

My husband was no where near as enthusiastic as I was about the prospects.

It is worth noting that all of the bad habits in the house are mine (lead foot, sport bikes, kayaks, canoes, etc etc (anything further could be truly incriminating but you all get the picture). If I can link fast, sporty cars with my other hobbies - I am a happy little camper...

So, in other words - don't listen to me, I am heavily biased towards in such insanity because it would be entertaining as all get out to see the looks on peoples faces when you drive up in that.

Cheers! Kathy

 

[Alan Gage]

IMO adapting a sports car to carry skis, bikes, or luggage containers is completely different than carrying a 14+ foot canoe. You need more bar spread and more resistance to torque. If you're only going short distances, at slower speeds, and won't be encountering strong winds then I'm sure it could be done. But for traveling hundreds of miles, driving at high speeds, experiencing strong winds, oncoming semis, or any combination of the above, and I say it's not practical.

Plus you'd look like a douche at the put-in.

If you want the car then grab it. Then go buy some $1500 junker to haul that new Swift you deserve to buy yourself. An old Camry wagon would be nice.

Alan

 

[Doc.]

You're answer depends on what you're looking for. Back in the 70's a 17'er on top of a Carmen Ghia got me a date with Anita Fariolini.

 

[Grandpa Paddler]

A Mercedes is the car I covet. When (more appropriately if) I get one, the last thing I want to do is drive down a rocky access road to leave all by it lonesome at some desolate parking area (remember Alan's vehicle?). My neighbor's MB has never seen salt, snow or even rain but he is an extremist. Enjoy the Mercedes but get a truck type hauler. God created trucks right after he created composite canoes.

 

[Mihun09]

If you already own it (won it), sell it, buy a Tacoma and a dozen canoes and have cash left over for tripping.

 

[sweeper]

With 4 foam blocks, no rack needed, then you only need tie down points

 

[Robin]

Plus you'd look like a douche at the put-in.



Alan

My thoughts too.

 

[Canotrouge]

If the rack is available from one of the 2 companies, and that the car have a place to put them on, I would say yes... A car is a car is a car and sometime a truck! Keep us posted!

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

A Mercedes is the car I covet.

This is the issue, the problem, the mania. I'm old and I've never had a luxury car. But now I can never again afford a new car. So, I've been researching used for a week. I've got gearslutmania. Just like with all the canoes, the paddles, the knives, the axe. But now it's big retirement bucks that can't be replenished.

But I'm old, and I'd like my last vehicle to be one that I can luxuriate in while I drive hundreds or thousands of miles to and from the put-in. I don't care if you guys and gals think I look like a douche at the put-in. I'm a douche for many other reasons, anyway.

TALK ME OUT OF IT.

(no)

TALK ME INTO IT.

(???????)

Yes, you can put racks on a MB E-class. Cripes, you can fly it to Jupiter. See the little rectangle on the the side of the glass roof. There are four of them. They are little spring flaps that cover screw holes for custom racks. The racks are made by Thule but are much less expensive under the MB label.

If you want longer bars, you have to spring for bigger bucks from Thule or Rhino.

My 1997 Dodge van, the Magic Bus, isn't going anywhere. I can continue to look non-douchie in it.

Nor is my 1995 Mustang convertible, useless for canoeing, going anywhere.

But both of these vehicle cost $500 a month. There are 500 things in each of those vehicles that cost $500 to fix, and they seem to be breaking once a month. And you have to be a weight lifter to push in the Mustang's clutch. I need something more comfortable and reliable to drive around town.

My last new car, a Honda CRV, which used to be my canoe vehicle, was bought in 1999, has 350,000 miles on it, and is now driven by my son. No pictures.

Never again can I afford a new car. Well, maybe a Kia. But Mercedes' depreciate so rapidly that very attractive ones can be had used for 1/3 the original price, about the same as a Kia.

No new boats if I go ahead with this insanity.

Cripes, I only drive about 3,000 miles a year aside from canoe trips. The Mustang and van are good enough for that.

No, I'm sick of them, and I want a Mercedes.

No, I don't; it's a ridiculous waste of meager retirement income.

YES. NO.

No one said life, or canoeing, was a piece of cake.

 

[Jim Dodd]

On coming semi's ARE the toughest test I've encountered , especially when the wind is from my left ! They can nearly lift a vehicle with a fastened canoe on top.

Jim

 

[Alan Gage]

Never again can I afford a new car. Well, maybe a Kia. But Mercedes' depreciate so rapidly that very attractive ones can be had used for 1/3 the original price, about the same as a Kia.

I don't know anything about Mercedes. There are only a couple in town and we have no desire to work on them at the shop. But people use the same reasoning when they look at used Cadillacs. They compare the price of a used one to the price of a new one and think they're getting a steal when in fact the real reason for the depreciation is that Cadillacs are overpriced pieces of crap. I don't know if the same is true about Mercedes or not.

Toyotas don't depreciate, and for good reason. Toyota makes Lexus and they're a dang fine car. If I wanted a luxury car Lexus is all I'd bother with.

I'd personally buy a new Kia over a used Mercedes at the same price. Look at the warranty. Look at how many miles you said you drive a year. Go take one for a test drive. All new cars feel nice. Kia has greatly improved over the years.

Alan

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I don't know anything about Mercedes.

Cadillacs are overpriced pieces of crap. I don't know if the same is true about Mercedes or not.

Toyota makes Lexus and they're a dang fine car. If I wanted a luxury car Lexus is all I'd bother with.

I'd personally buy a new Kia over a used Mercedes at the same price.

A used carbon-Kevlar Wenonah Jensen and a new Coleman may be the same price -- and the Coleman will definitely last longer -- but the relevant question to me is: Which one would I rather paddle daily on canoe trips?

 

[Grandpa Paddler]

Glenn, if you want the Mercedes and can afford it, go for it! I will understand!!! If you get it, maybe that will give me the intestinal fortitude to get one regardless of what my wife says.

 

[Canotrouge]

Good point Alan! But really if this is what you want then just buy it and if after a year it is not what you wan anymore, you just sell it!!

 

[Odyssey]

I don't know what all the fuss is about. It's a luxurious looking automobile, and wouldn't look out of place at the Golf & Country Club. If you can afford that Mercedes along with a stable of fine canoes then surely you can splash for an exclusive membership, even if it's just so you can leave the Pings in the trunk and carry the Colden down the first fairway to the "water hazard" (dogleg left "playing through!"). Heck, you'd be the talk of the gated community, bringing a bit of truculent titter tatter to the 19th watering hole;
"I say old bean! That's not old school?! We can't have that sort here!!"
"Oh, I don't know Charles, he was resplendent in the latest in fashionable attire?"
"You do have a point there Todd. Those matching knee socks, cap and knickers all co-ordinated perfectly with that canoe. How the heck does he do that?!"
"Language Conrad, language!! You know we don't use the C words here! This IS a kayak exclusive club you know!!"
"I'm told his nephew paddles a..."
"Don't say that word! Not here!!"
"...a cedar canvas Chesnut canoe."
"GOOD GOD! I said one should never utter any of those C words here! We have standards!!"
"...and he does so with an animal tail paddle."
"Well Todd, there goes the neighbourhood."
"Bloody nice car though."

 

[Dagger]

Life is not all about practical or sain decisions...how dull would that be. Go buy your Benz and enjoy it!
I am with Canotrouge. If it turns out you don't like it, sell it again.

I have had quite a few MBs, but mostly the older 80' diesel or turbo diesel. Back then they came with more of a rain gutter than a rail, and Thule made a screw-on, claw type rack tower that was so strong, the roof would probably rip off before the rail or towers gave in.